There are millions of people that deal with the pain and frustration that comes with various types of arthritis each and every day. Unfortunately, this particular health condition has the tendency to stick around and can get progressively worse overtime. If you’re one of the many that suffer with this problem, you’d probably be interested in learning about some of the treatment options that are available.

Medicinal Options

Many health professionals will stress the importance of introducing some type of medicinal treatment into your daily routine as a way to reduce the effects of arthritis. For some individuals, this prospect can be stressful, frustrating, and even introduce a number of side effects into the picture. However, it is important to understand that finding an effective medication often requires a certain amount of trial and error.

As each human body is unique, so too are the ways that one person may respond to one medicine or another. Usually the only way to be sure how you will react to a type of medication is to give various doses a shot, and to adjust them as needed. This process can take a considerable amount of time, but for those individuals that find the right balance, it can pay off immensely.

Physical Treatment Options

Of course, there are more ways to counteract this medical condition. Staying active is an important part of keeping your body as healthy as possible. While this can be a real challenge for people who suffer from arthritis, finding the right exercise routine can have a big impact on your overall mobility. Your doctor may prescribe physical therapy, or even recommend finding another activity to keep you moving.

Enrolling in a yoga, tai chi, or water aerobics class are popular solutions that can help you stay fit without causing excessive stress on your joints. It is important for people with arthritis to start fitness plans at a slow pace as to avoid over-exerting themselves to the point of causing more pain and discomfort. As your body becomes more accustomed to the movements and the routine, you should be able to increase your frequency and intensity little by little.

Diet

You might be surprised to learn that diet can have a real effect on the way that your body moves and operates. Like a car, keeping your body healthy requires the right fuel to keep it running smoothly. Speaking with your doctor or someone with training in proper nutrition could help you eliminate the harmful foods, and incorporate more beneficial eating habits into your diet.

A Balancing Act

Depending on your individual situation and what type of arthritis you are dealing with, you may find that combining more than one treatment method provides the best results. In fact, many doctors recommend that their patients find a good balance of all of these treatment methods to improve overall health, as well as to address their arthritis. Doing some research, or speaking to your doctor to learn more about your options might just be the first step towards being healthier.

Staying healthy when you’ve got a health condition working against you can be a real challenge, but it is possible. While it cannot be denied that arthritis can be a painful condition, with the right treatment plan that possesses the most effective balance, you may be able to take back control of your life.

Written by Lawrence Reaves for Solstice Medicine, providing chinese herbal medicines to treat ailments such as arthritis and joint pain and many other illnesses.

I am exhausted. I feel like I’ve been exhausted all summer. As if I haven’t slept well most of the summer. Yes I know the irony – I’m posting this right after a post about insomnia. No I haven’t been suffering from insomnia, I just haven’t been getting enough sleep.

Ever since I injured my hand in early June and started waking up at night because of the pain in my hand or even not sleeping because of the pain I’ve been tired. Then, once my hand slowly started to get better my stomach started acting up. Remember the Crohn’s .. yeah, it’s acting up again too. It really hasn’t been a fun summer. I’m really hoping that Autumn will be much better!

Now that it’s getting cooler outside I think I’m going to make sure I go for a long walk at least once every day. Twice if possible. That will be just one more thing to make me tired and help me sleep. Sounds like a plan. I just have to make time to do that.

Next on the list is maybe starting to take some vitamins again. I was taking vitamins last year and I felt a lot better, perhaps if I take vitamins again I’ll start feeling better again? There’s actually still some maternity vitamins in the cupboard, I guess I should finish them.

Ok, I’ve been taking about being exhausted – maybe I should just go to bed. Goodnight!

I can’t believe how fast July has gone by. It seems like July only just started two weeks ago and here it is the end of the month. I’ve been so busy this month it’s just gone by so fast!

I haven’t been able to personally do much because my hand is still healing. I have no idea when my left hand will be back to normal or if it ever will. Yes it’s that bad.

The results of my bone scan are in and well .. there’s nothing definitive but there are some findings that are interesting. The hamate bone in my left wrist apparently has swollen bone marrow. Go figure. I guess that’s why the outer left side and top left side of my hand is still swollen and very tender.

The bone scan also showed that there was activity in the ulnar region of my left wrist (outer wrist) which corresponds to one of the areas I’m having pain .. but interestingly it also showed that there is a lot of activity in the joints of BOTH of my hands! So I may have early signs of arthritis or some kind of pain syndrome. Sigh. Well .. everyone in my family seems to have arthritis so that’s probably what it is .. but man .. I use my hands to make a living. This sucks!

I use my hands to write, to type, to create art, to photograph and to heal (I’m a nurse) … It’s been awful having my dominant hand useless for the better part of two months and now I’m learning that both of my hands might soon be quite painful sometime in the future. I certainly hope that the bone scan is wrong!

I saw the hand doctor last week and she thinks it’s going to be a few more weeks until that bone in my hand is healed. Hopefully healed. My thumb is still sore as well. It’s very weak and painful. So I have pain on both sides of my hand and it’s weak, crampy, achy and just not anything close to the way it should be. I wish I hadn’t fallen on that ladder!

I’m still waiting to find out if I’m going back to work or not. I’ve been going through the very slow process of returning to work after a long medical leave since January! I can’t believe how long it’s been taking and that I’m still not back to work.

I think that it will only be a little while longer and I’ll be back to work in the hospital. All I want to do is get back to my nursing job. A couple of months ago, when I thought things were progressing much faster I got out all of my old uniforms and cleaned them and got them ready to use. I also started shopping for some new uniforms. I founds some cute baby phat scrub tops that will look great with some scrub pants that I already have, but I haven’t purchased them yet because I’m waiting to find out how much longer it will be before I begin working.

I’m sure most people haven’t been in my situation where they’ve been off work for more than five years due to an illness and then are trying to return to their job, but it just seems to take forever! I have to convince everyone I’m healthy enough to work again.

I’m having an interesting day … one that I think I’m more than ready to be done with.

My husband finally had a couple of days off in a row so we’re busy doing some much needed renovations on the house. Yes we’re actually doing the renovations – not just talking about getting it done sometime, someday. It’s started. The living room dining room reno will finally be finished – soon. LOL

My poor dog is totally baffled by what’s going on. She’s wondering what all this banging is and why everything smells like spruce wood and saw dust all of a sudden. Not that she minds the smell.

One thing threw me for a bit of a loop today. I finally got the call I’ve been waiting for from the Human Resources department at my workplace. I’ve been waiting to hear from them ever since I had my first appointment with them two weeks ago regarding going back to work. You know, that appointment that ended up with me being interviewed by five people for over an hour! Yikes!

Well, now they want to see me for at least half an hour. I’m not sure what it’s about this time. It could be yet another interview type meeting or maybe they’ve found a place in the hospital for me. I don’t know. All I do know is that it’s nerve wracking each time. I just want to get back to work – get my life back on track again. I’m starting to feel like a yoyo – back and forth, back and forth I go … Hmm but I bet I don’t compare to the best yo yo at yoyoplay. Uh huh.

A while back I thought it would only be a couple of weeks and I’d have my old job back. That was in January or February … here I am after convincing my doctors that I’m healthy enough to go back to work, and convincing the occupational health department at my workplace that I’m healthy enough to return and getting cleared to return to work and I’m still waiting. Hopefully it won’t be much longer.